Got this in my inbox; it’s authentic. Trinity Church of the Tri-Cities has left the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches. Praise God. The following letter cites their cause of action. It’s addressed to Alan Burrow, a CREC presiding minister who helped write the Presiding Ministers’ Report on the Sitler and Wight Sex Abuse Cases:
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Trinity Church of the Tri-Cities
1007 Wright Avenue
Pasco, WA, 99354To Alan Burrow, Knox Presbytery, and the Presiding Ministers of the CREC:
Trinity Church of the Tri-Cities is withdrawing membership from the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, effective immediately. We believe God is leading us to grow and seek fellowship in a direction that is incompatible with the CREC and our congregation has voted to leave the denomination. Both our leadership and our membership agree that this is the right move for our church. Not every member in our church desires to wander into denominational issues, and that is not a bad thing. As leaders of God’s people however, we feel the burden of Lord to speak the whole truth of the matter for the good of His people.
We had hoped the CREC would outgrow certain issues so our congregation could remain and possibly even be a presence for positive change. Unfortunately, for too many, the CREC is the face of abuse of women and defender of child abusers. We had hoped the Presiding Ministers would respond with wisdom to the recent sexual molestation investigations. The failure of this report gives us little hope for the future of the CREC. Rather than reining in Douglas Wilson’s behavior, they have instead encouraged his tone and demeanor. They have overly praised him, evincing cowardice or complicity.
We have also been disheartened to see the larger assemblies of the CREC function with systematic disregard for lay members; it is rare to see a voting delegate who is a lay Elder. Further, matters for which a vote is required are brought to Knox Presbytery at the last minute, demonstrating a lack of interest and an air of disdain for the input of lay Christians. We desire to see the whole Body of Christ grow and mature, rather than be marginalized and infantilized by pastors with an extreme emphasis on “authority” that diminishes lay leadership, lay ministry, and lay men and women.
Finally, we desire greater fellowship with the larger Christian world, rather than the isolation that comes from being a part of a group that gleefully defines itself by its enemies. Consistently sowing dissension among the brotherhood of Christians (even among its own ranks!) displays an unbiblical attitude, and that seems to be the current tone of the most prominent CREC pastors.
May God bless you with judgment unto restoration, rather than unto further dissension.
Sincerely,
Toby Wilson (for the Leadership)
Trinity Church of the Tri-Cities
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What a gem. We pray godspeed on Trinity Church of the Tri-Cities.
“We fell down by accident,” said Puddleglum, truthfully enough.
“Many fall down, and few return to the sunlit lands, ” said the voice.
— C.S. Lewis, “The Silver Chair”
Thank the Lord that a church that followed Wilson, at least partly by accident (because they did not realize at first who they were following) has been put back on their feet and found their way out of the pit and back into the light.
And so it begins. Good for them and all that are brave enough to follow.
On another note, could this be one of the reasons why Doug Wilson has decided to disable the comments section on his blog? Could surely be coincidence, but the timing couldn’t be any better. 🙂
Coincidence, I Think NOT!
Godspeed to Trinity!
Fantastic. Death to the CREC.
Thank God that the leadership of Trinity REC in the Tri Cities has finally seen the light and departed the festering pit of woe that is the CREC. This will lift a great burden off their shoulders as they leave. May God continue to bless them and strengthen them as they seek a more appropriate and faithful communion.
Question for the hive mind. Trinity Church of the Tri-Cities has left the CREC in the rear view mirror. They state on their What We Believe tab that “We are Christians who believe that the Bible is God’s Word. We seek to base our lives and our faith on that Word” and link to the Apostle’s Creed. They don’t expand on that. They do not mention biblical infallibility.
Have they left the more obnoxious aspects of Doug Wilson behind but still carry forward with a patriocentric beliefs or are they making a truly clean break?
I doubt the church will distance themselves from patriocentric theology, as it is likely one of their core beliefs mentioned in their statement of faith. However, though they believe that subservient wives may be a key to their faith, they have obviously stated that they will not stand for the cover up or apparent support of sexual abuse in any form from a parent church or organization.
These are baby steps. And having one church stand up and say “NO MORE” to one little bit is, right now, really more that we could ask for. It wasn’t us dissenters that made this happen, it was Doug Wilson and the blindness of the presiding ministers of the CREC. One pebble in a pond makes waves, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. The Presiding Ministers Report was the first pebble. This church breaking away was another in the same pond.
The PMR was ignored and scoffed at for months by Christ Church and other churches in the CREC. Yet still, one church decided to break away. Perhaps once other churches in the CREC realize they can make a clean break, others will follow. That is my hope, and I will help in any way I can to make that happen.
No Patriocentric beliefs. The Bible is the infallible word of God. Do not believe in subservient wives are a key to salvation. SMASH the patriarchy!
BTW I am a member of Trinity Church